Moving Sucks to the Max

Zomg. I hate moving! Who’s with me?! I am in the process of moving to San Diego right now. I’m currently living in the San Francisco bay area for work, but still have all my important belongings back in Minnesota. I need to get everything in Minn ready for the move, plus I need to box everything here in South Bay. I’m having an anxiety attack! You’d think it’d be somewhat easier because I do have professional movers coming, but it’s not.

just a snapshot of a teeny part of the mess

The process of sorting through everything you own and saying ‘keep, toss, Goodwill’ is difficult. Part of me feels guilty…why did I buy that in the first place? I haven’t worn it in 2 years! What a waste of money! When I moved out to Cali the first time, it was more of a temporary relocation. I quickly learned to live with very little. Apartments are smaller here, and since I was living in temporary mode I got by on the minimum (and actually got quite used to it). When I went back to Minnesota to pack up my life…AH! Where did all this $#$% come from?!

When I graduated college with my undergrad I was so excited to have a ‘real job’ that I got into a mode where I felt like I needed nice things. I went out and rented a nice condo, with an updated kitchen, hardwood floors, a view, etc. It was beautiful, but it was wrong. It was more than I could afford at the time, but I was too ignorant to really face the reality and deal with it. I just wanted my own place the way I wanted it, and I was too stubborn to think of any repercussions (hello, credit card debt). Even though I was living in a beautiful place, between work and grad school, I was miserable and depressed. The items I bought from that period elicit bad memories. I made sure to put those items in the ‘donate’ pile. Still, it made me feel guilty and icky to even go back to that part of my life.

Since moving out to California, I’ve managed to turn everything around financially. I will expand upon this in a future post, but the bottom line is I got my crap together, and I’m on top of things now. To go back home and see all my stuff gave me mega anxiety. So yes, that is why moving has been extra difficult. It’s not the packing or the sorting itself, but the fact that items have memories and I had already felt like I moved on.

I promised myself that when I get to San Diego, I will go through another edit of all my things and clear out some more. I just have too much and I want to be mobile. I don’t own a house yet so there is no need to start collecting. New rule: be mindful of what comes in and what goes out. If I’m buying new clothes, take a few old ones to Goodwill first.

Off to work for me.

PS – I’ll be attempting to unplug from social media this week to just have a break from it all. Wish me luck!

2 Comments

I’m struggling with the same thing, but I haven’t moved anywhere! Every time I step into my bedroom I am surrounded by all of these awful feelings. I want to move, but I just don’t have it in me to go through everything. Do you have any tips for letting go? I also have a big problem with clothes! I have so much that I don’t wear and the minute I start going through it, I either remember that I have it or try it on and decide I still like it. My closest is packed with sundresses that I love, but between the office, the glass studio, and MN’s tease of a Summer the opportunities are few and far between. boo.

Clothes are getting easier for me to pitch. I’m trying to live by a 2-year rule…in general try to cycle things out after 2 years (if not sooner). I figure I’m investing in myself by keeping current with fashion and buying new things. I used to have these button-up shirts that I only sort of liked, but I would take them to the cleaners every other week, and keep wearing them. I finally pitched them a few weeks ago…because what was the point? If I don’t put on something and feel like…”WOW, this makes me look good/feels amazing” then I pitch and buy new. Also I have a little rule about dresses…if it’s already shown up 2-3 times in facebook photos, then I cycle. Of course I have exceptions but I try.

The “stuff” on the other hand is harder. My stuff is mostly home goods. My tastes and styles are still changing too rapidly for me to own all that furniture. The real loss is the money, because I do not have a hard time leaving items behind. In fact, I can’t wait to get rid of some just to move on from the past. I do feel guilty for being so rash when I originally bought..and haven’t quite mastered that yet…

Hi, I’m Danielle. I’m 27 years old and live in San Diego. This is a blog about finding personal freedom. I work at a corporate job but do not want to forever. I will fill this space with quotes, pick-me-ups, inspiration, art, and musings of freedom. More info on my About page. :)